Football schedules fun to peruse

The recent circulation of football schedules for the 2013 season and strong showings by Batavia and St. Charles North at the 7 on 7 at WWS this week has Sly thinking pigskin.

Correction: has Sly thinking pigskin even more than normal.

So, about those schedules.

Batavia starts its season with games against Glenbard North, Richards and Geneva. The Bulldogs will no doubt be ready to answer the bell, but that's still a heckuva way to break in the gear.

If they can get by those three games unscathed, a third straight unbeaten regular season would be a definite possibility. Then again, based on how the playoffs went for the Bulldogs last year, regular season perfection is probably very far down the 'Dogs' to-do list for 2013.

Geneva also has a rough early slate, again. Not only do the Bulldogs loom in Week 3, but Geneva has Oswego (on the road) and Wheaton North leading up to B-town. Considering both St. Charles teams should be improved and they are on the docket for Weeks 5 (North) and 6 (East), the Vikings will need to be much-improved if they're going to avoid being knocked out of the playoff picture early for the second straight fall.

St. Charles East starts the season on a Saturday afternoon in South Elgin. Something ain't quite right about opening the season with a matinee, but at least the Saints will be under the lights the rest of the way.

We've known for some time that North is going to start out at Elk Grove, new North Stars coach Rob Pomazak's old employer, but it doesn't make that matchup any less delicious. Take 7 on 7 results with a grain of salt, but the North Stars hung tough against some really good competition on Thursday at WWS. Looks like Pomazak has put together a quality staff, too.

Kaneland's non-con schedule could be juicier, but then again it ain't easy for the Knights to get people on the schedule that they're looking to play (see: Batavia). And Week 1 opponent Brooks gave Kaneland all it could handle last season, so the Knights should be primed for that one.

While the Batavia-Geneva rumble is regrettably early again this year, at least the good folks in the NI Big 12 haven't lost their sense of building to a crescendo. Kaneland-Morris is again ticketed for Week 9, and always pesky Sycamore should be a good warm-up for the Knights leading up to their big finale in Grundy County.